The day opens with the joyous ringing of bells, and at half-past nine the band plays in the Pianello. The usual ceremony--the unfurling of the flag, the cortège of regents proceeding to the cathedral-takes place with a fervor as though

ever new.

After solemn high mass the procession, augmented by many priests, with the sacred relic, the head of the saint enclosed in a silver bust, proceeds through the town, blessing the various institutions. At noon comes the vital moment when the archpriest blesses the government palace with the venerated relic. The mid-day hour is tense with religious feeling. Standing beneath the loggia, the priest raises high the revered reliquary. At the instant of elevating the silver-encased head, as though automatically released, the bells peal forth and kneeling San Marino rises to its feet.

The ceremony of February 5 has especial significance, when from the church of Saint Agatha, in the Borgo, the Sam

marinesi climb in procession to the cathedral, or La Pieve, as the church of the saint is called; for it celebrates in the memories of the people the end of the Cardinal Alberoni usurpation. Legend tells how long ago, one cold winter day, the whole Republic being covered with snow, the people shivered in their homes and decided not to fare forth. The next morning, to their surprise, they found the snow marked from Saint Agatha to La Pieve with the tracks of wild beasts who, in rebuke to the people, had held the procession. Needless to say, the function has taken place, regardless of weather, ever since.

Though intensely devout, the religious atmosphere of San Marino is noticeably different from that of Italy. There is less of form, despite its reverent medieval customs. The Sammarinesi seem to have kept alive the primitive spirit of the early Christians in spite of the fact that at the end of the tenth century they were drawn into the hierarchy of the Roman

Church. Their religion is interwoven with their law. Here the religious marriage ceremony is legal and the only one performed, while in Italy the civil ceremony is obligatory.

Monasteries and convents there are, where the simple communist idea of primitive times seems also to prevail. At Serravalle, an ancient custom exists which preserves the early habits of the religious orders. The little hospice is still open where in olden times wayfarers could find a haven and where foundlings were left. The grain from the little farm owned by the hospice was made into flour and distributed among the poor on Christmas eve. The unchanging customs perhaps reflect the reason for the peaceful life of the Republic.

THE RECREATIONS OF THE PEOPLE

The quiet recreations of the Sammarinesi are picturesque to the outsider.

During the summer months on Saturday nights, band concerts are held in the Piazza della Liberta. On these evenings, when a full moon hangs over the dark outlines of distant mountains, the picture is reminiscent of those medieval squares as reproduced in our grand operas. Couples walk back and forth about the statue of Liberty, or they seat themselves on the walls separating the steep street from the piazza, or lean against the parapet which overhangs the depths below. Others gather about little tables before the age-gray café, all living pictures of days that seem long past.

In winter, life is a different story. The little mountain Republic is so cold and such deep snow fills the narrow streets that the people practically hibernate. The climate, which in summer is especially delightful, changes from warm to cold early in October and remains cold until April.

The dwellers in the capital, bearing

family names interwoven in the history of the Republic, are for the most part government employees, professors in the college, storekeepers, or doctors. There is a good hospital and a college which admits to many of Italy's universities.

COMMERCIAL LIFE CENTERS IN THE BORGO

The commercial life of the Republic is centered in the Borgo. Every week, market days draw from the capital above housewives and servants. The fairs, the chief ones being in September and October, are occasions when buyers and sellers come not only from all over the Republic, but from neighboring Italian towns as well.

Fair days present a kaleidoscopic picture of gay-kerchiefed peasant women, farmers, stock-growers, boys and girls leading sheep, pigs, and cattle. The cattle market from a distance looks like an encampment of innumerable tents, with the indistinguishable forms of hundreds of great white cattle, which are the beasts of burden in this country.

War has demanded its toll even among Sammarinesi cattle, but so prosperous is the stock-raising industry, one of the most important of the Republic, that the fairs are still imposing and picturesque events. One sees young and old climbing the ascending roads, bringing their cattle, little calves, half grown, good workers, good breeders, cows that provide milk and daily toil as well-all for sale.

In the piazzas, peasant women, with great garlands of onions and garlic, baskets of eggs, picturesque flat baskets full of live chickens, hampers of the famous San Marino sheep's-milk cheese, bargain and barter. Booths with everything from dress goods to hair oil are surrounded by eagerly buying peasants and townsfolk; for San Marino has no well-stocked stores, and therefore the fairs, with their visiting merchants, are of unusual impor

notable part in the life of the Republic, and the wine of San Marino is of a superior quality.

All the picturesque features of the vintage of poetry are found in San Marino late in September. All ox-carts seem to lead from vineyard to wine-cellar, and feet are stained red with the juice of the grape. In the vineyards bare-footed men. pack the grapes in huge barrels atop the ox-carts, which transport the fruit to the cellars. Here peasants, juice spurting through their toes, crush the grapes in great vats from which the escaping liquid runs off, ready to be stored in barrels for fermenting. Here the young figure of a modern Bacchus, there old men like satyrs, stamp the future wine in these dark canteens. Even the smallest farmers, the poorest peasants, who boast no cellars, tread their grapes in the farmyards or wagon-sheds.

FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

Picturesque customs abound in San Marino. From birth to death the Sammarinesi pass the circle of existence as did their forebears. One of the characteristic sights is that of a christening party-the midwife, with the baby in her arms, covered by a huge stiff mantle, looking like an animated piece of furniture moving through the cobbled streets toward the cathedral, followed by the godparents of the newcomer.

When Sammarinesi are carried to their last resting place-the architecturally attractive cemetery at the end of a cypress avenue down the slope of the mountainthe coffin, covered with its heavy pall, is supported on the shoulders of friends until the city gates are reached; for no funeral car could wind its way through those steep, narrow streets. At the gates the cortège is met by the hearse, which proceeds down the mountain to a cemetery that is a modern copy of the ancient catacombs.

Beneath the chapel and the cloistered loggia of fourteenth century style, graves are hewn from the living rock, as in those early Christian burying grounds. One passes through avenues flanked by last resting places, here tiny ones for children, or still smaller ones for bones; there larger ones for adults.

The Sammarinesi seem little occupied with business, the few stores of the capital doing a leisurely trade. But in its quiet way San Marino has touched on most of the economic and social problems to its own satisfaction. It has its compulsory education law, and everything is being done to eradicate illiteracy, which still prevails among the peasants. A good school system, a college, and an excellent little museum attract students from neighboring towns.

THE REPUBLIC'S COOPERATIVE

INSTITUTIONS

The Mutual Aid Society, with an important savings bank, whose object is to aid the working classes, has many branches reaching into the public life. Coöperative societies have been fostered by the Mutual Aid, among the interesting ones being the Coöperative Canteen. Its object is to serve good wine at a low price. Drunkenness is little known in San Marino, where crime is a rare occurrence. The Sammarinesi know what is good wine and they insist upon having it. One can always tell a wine shop, even when there is no painted sign, by the branch of a tree or bit of bush hung over the door.

The public bake-house is one of the busiest of coöperative institutions. Before October, 1917, families nearly always sent their bread to the public oven to be baked. In October last, the economic effects of war made it necessary for the Republic to prohibit private bread baking. Bread tickets are issued and the bread, made in the public oven, is sold during certain hours of the day in the market loggia.

The grain magazine, where members of the Mutual Aid could buy grain and flour at low prices and on credit, has naturally been affected by the war.

The branches of the Coöperative Labor Organization indicate the occupations of San Marino. It includes stone-cutters, masons, carpenters, and manual laborers. The Emigration Society's aim is to place Sammarinese laborers in other countries. The Consumers' League, of which the bake-house is a branch, boasts an economic kitchen.

There is a charity organization, a permanent home for chronic invalids among the poor, a fresh-air fund, which sends babies to the seaside in the summer, a hospice for winter, and of course a Red Cross Society.

Two theaters, one in the Borgo, one in the capital, are scenes of occasional histrionic fêtes, but dancing and theatergoing have been discouraged since Italy's entrance into the war, this being the simple way of showing sympathy for the war-shadowed nation which surrounds the Republic. These quiet, unassuming people-earnest and sometimes austere— have adjusted life to their own wants. Indeed, the little Republic, which impresses one as very neat and tidy in its appearance, is quite as orderly in its social and economic life.

A REFUGE FOR THE PERSECUTED YESTERDAY AND TODAY

But while it seems self-sufficient and asks only for peace and tranquillity, San Marino has been a refuge for fugitives through all the ages, since the Dalmatian. stone-cutter with his early Christians found shelter on this mountain top. Today, one finds refugees of various kinds and conditions living comfortably in the Hotel Titano or with Sammarinese families.

Penal offenders are not permitted to remain in the Republic, but political fugitives are given a haven. In times past many famous people have found shelter. here, and today men known internationally live in the tranquil shadows of Mt. Titanus, awaiting their hour. Extradition agreements exist between the Republic and England, Italy, Belgium, and Holland.

Back in 1849, Garibaldi, with his handful of valiant men, found a life-saving refuge here when pursued by overpowering Austrian troops. The incident still lives in the hearts and history of San Marino, where tablets bearing Garibaldi's words on that occasion, a statue of Garibaldi, and a square named in his honor testify the love of the Sammarinesi for the great liberator. The coöperative canteen is situated on the ground floor of the